In The Garden: Part 4.

Phew, wot a scorcher! It has been unseasonably hot here for the past few days and today has been the hottest day of all. It is 30 degrees centigrade at the moment which is 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Celtic types like me don’t like it that hot. I have just come indoors to the cool of my living room. I have enjoyed sitting outside in the mornings, and especially in the cool of the evening. I love the ritual of watering the garden in the evenings, giving the plants a good soaking. Last night I was out there until it was nearly dark. It is very mindful looking upwards at the half-moon and the blue sky with just wisps of cloud and listening to a blackbird singing from the top of a neighbour’s tree. From about 9.00pm I was observing pairs of swifts darting about high up performing high speed aerial manoeuvres. For the last few weeks I have been following an ongoing dispute between a pair of blackbirds and a pair of wood pigeons who are nesting in the same tree. The blackbirds seem to be the aggressors. I think they see the wood pigeon’s large size and slow movements as a threat.

Despite the heat I have managed to get a few jobs done. I gave my pond it’s annual clean. That involved scooping out all the silt that accumulates at the bottom of the pond. I’m sure my two shubunkins appreciate their little pooliverse being a lot tidier. I think the bucketful of organic pond matter I gathered will make good fertiliser for my plants. Before the heat kicked in I also managed to paint the outside of my kitchen, and the tall wall with brilliant white masonry paint. That wall had looked very flaky paint ,and dirty with pollution. There is still a lot to do. I need to paint the window frames and my back door when it cools down a bit. My little garden is looking better by the day. The sunflowers are growing rapidly against the wall. They should look great when they flower. I’m pleased to see some marigolds from last year have returned and are in flower now. 

The clematis that I had to cut right back when I mended the fence is already shooting new stems skywards, so that is good. Down around the pond buttercups seem to have taken over. I used to dig out buttercups, but It’s a lot of hassle, so I think I’ll just leave them to get on with it. I’ll call down by the pond ‘The wild area’. My hanging baskets are starting to look good, but they won’t reach their best for a while yet. I know my little garden isn’t quite the Chelsea Flower Show, but I like pottering around in it. I’ll do another garden report before too long. Cheers.